The Detroit Lions were clearly not all that aggressive in an an effort to keep DJ Chark, and the latest news about him proves them even more right.
In hindsight, with Jameson Williams suspended for the first six games of the season, maybe the Detroit Lions should have tried harder to re-sign wide receiver DJ Chark. But it’s clear they drew a line, in terms of years and money, and they would not cross it to bring him back.
Given the seemingly reasonable deal Chark got from the Carolina Panthers, one year, $5 million, the Lions clearly had a low value on him. He was a significant factor in their offense late last season, but his season in Detroit will go down as a broad disappointment.
Chark’s last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars was limited to four games by a broken ankle. He aggravated the injury last season, costing him six games with the Lions.
Recent news on DJ Chark further proves Lions made right decision to let him go
Via Panthers.com, Chark recently talked about his ankle issue, going back to his initial surgery in 2021.
"When I had the surgery, the surgical repair materials used in the surgery caused an effect on the bone, which I didn’t understand at the time. We didn’t know,” Chark said. “So the whole training camp (in 2022 with the Lions), I’m dealing with it, it feels good, but it feels a little sore. And then after Week 3 against Minnesota, before halftime, I got tackled, and it feels like I kind of twisted my ankle a little bit. I came back the next week to practice for the upcoming week and just couldn’t really run on it — I was in pain.I didn’t necessarily have to have the (most recent) surgery,” Chark said. “But if I want to get back to the best version of myself, and as far as health-wise, it was best to go ahead and do it."
Yep, Chark confirmed he recently had another surgery on his ankle.
Frank Reich: DJ Chark recently underwent ankle surgery. Could be ready for part of OTAs.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) March 28, 2023
A broken ankle can surely have a lingering impact, and it sounds like the initial surgical hardware impacted Chark’s healing process. When he was approaching missing a third straight game last season, his grim comments now stand as a bit of foreshadowing about not ever quite getting to 100 percent healthy before the season was over.
A second surgery might be what Chark needs to get his ankle all the way back right. The Panthers have made a cheap one-year bet that it will be the case.
The Lions made a similar bet on Chark’s health a year ago, and they were left mostly disappointed. So they passed on doing it again. The news Chark has had another ankle surgery further reinforces they were right to let him leave.